


Jurassic times call for Jurassic measures

by Fluffypanda



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Dinosaurs, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Jealous Steve Rogers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Tony Stark, Protective Steve Rogers, Savage Land (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21950848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda
Summary: A trip to the Savage Land goes very, very wrong.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 30
Kudos: 217
Collections: 2019 Captain America/Iron Man Holiday Exchange





	Jurassic times call for Jurassic measures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marumo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marumo/gifts).



> Thank you to erawebuilt for the beta! Also to betheflame and anoo for the cheer!

“Hold on!” Steve shouted, his voice somehow diminished in the steamy jungle air.

A hush had fallen over the forest with the arrival of rain, which rolled off the lush foliage in big fat drops and streamed down Steve’s face, washing blood and sweat away in rivulets. It was as if all the creatures had chosen to wait for the rain let up to continue their lives. It was hard to believe the coldest and most barren landscape on earth laid just beyond the ring of volcanoes sheltering the vibrant mix of prehistoric life living here.

Steve’s boots sank into the mud. He struggled to lift the fallen tree, pouring all his strength into it as the thick slurry crept up his ankles. Just as he felt the tree shift, his grip on the bark slipped-- “No!”

He scrambled to grab hold of it, but he wasn’t fast enough, and the tree settled back into place, pinning Tony once more.

Falling to his knees beside Tony, Steve frantically felt for his pulse or some sign of life in his ashen, mud-streaked face. Water dripped from Steve’s chin onto Tony’s face. The pulse was so faint Steve wasn’t even certain it was there, but seconds later Tony’s eyes fluttered open and Steve let out a small sigh of relief.

Tony groaned, “That didn’t turn out like I thought it would.”

Weakly laughing, Steve took Tony’s hand. “Next time, leave punching dinosaurs to me, alright?”

“Nnn, yeah.”

Steve wanted to get a better look at the raptor bite on Tony’s leg, but he couldn’t do it here and the rain and mud certainly weren’t doing either of them any favors. He needed to free Tony and find shelter.

The only question was – was it even safe to move Tony? What if his spine was damaged?

Leaves rustled behind them. Something large was heading their way. Steve tensed, preparing to fend off whatever was out there.

“Nnghh.”

Steve panicked, fearing Tony’s condition took a turn for the worse before realizing he had been unconsciously clutching Tony’s hand too tightly. Steve loosened his grip, not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Can you move your toes?” Steve asked.

Tony wiggled his feet on the other side of the tree as the rustling moved closer.

That would have to be good enough.

Steve braced his shoulder against the tree’s trunk and pushed. He sank further into the mud with little effect. With a roar he put another burst of strength into it and finally shifted the tree enough to free Tony. He quickly lifted Tony up and tucked him against his chest. Tony’s skin was cold – from the rain or the shock, Steve wasn’t sure.

Tony blinked up at Steve, his eyes glassy. “Steve?”

“I’ve got you.”

Steve’s stomach twisted as he set off running. How could he let this happen? He knew the dangers of the Savage Land, yet still he let it catch him off guard and now Tony was paying the price.

Steve pushed through the dense foliage, w et branches and leaves smacking his face. He kept his senses dialed up to eleven, ready for any sign of danger. Eventually, he found a cave nestled underneath a large boulder.

The cave was just tall enough to stand in, with the floor gently sloping upwards. Steve laid Tony down deep inside, where it was still dry. With any luck the rain would stop soon and they could properly dry off.

Steve pulled the first aid kit and a small utility knife from the pouches on his belt. Using the knife, he sliced the cloth and peeled it back to expose Tony’s wound, a series of punctures left behind by the raptor’s teeth.

Every move seemed to draw a whimper from Tony, so Steve worked quickly, cleaning and wrapping Tony’s leg.

“Shhhhhh, shhhhhhh, I’m almost done,” Steve said, tying off the bandage.

Tony seemed to have passed out, his features going slack and his breathing evening out. He was still cold to the touch, almost worryingly so. Exposure could be just as deadly as any wound.

Steve pulled Tony close to him, turning so he could get the best view of the cave’s entrance before settling him comfortably on his lap. This time he would be prepared. This time he’d keep him safe.

* * *

Tony drifted in a fog, unmoored by the harsh ebb and flow of pain. He anchored himself to the one piece of solid land he could find – the warm body beside him. His hold was echoed with a familiar and reassuring steadfastness, even as the waves threatened to wash him away.

But at some point the person holding him began to pull away. He grabbed whatever he could reach – a hand. He desperately clung to it like it was the only thing keeping him from sinking to the ocean floor. 

“Steve?” His eyes burning with tears that wouldn’t come, he croaked, “Don’t go.”

But Steve’s hand slid from his grasp all the same. 

It left him hollow and cold as the seawater poured in and he spiralled ever lower. Tony didn’t know how long he laid there, a shivering wreck, it could have been hours or only a few minutes. 

The next thing he knew, a canteen of water was pressed to his lips, but his tongue felt heavy and his throat stiff. He couldn’t take a single sip. Then Steve’s lips were pressed against his, helping him drink.

After a few more rounds of that, Tony curled in close to Steve and held him tight.

“Stay,” Tony said, drifting off again.

* * *

Tony’s awareness slowly sharpened and he realized something was snuffling at his stomach. He moved and there was a surprised squeak. Seconds later, he felt a puff of grassy air on his face. Tony opened his eyes and saw a leathery, beak-like snout.

Tony shouted.

His eyes darted around, taking in the stone and dirt walls around him while he took deep breaths of the steamy, almost suffocating air. He squinted against the bright light to see that the baby hadrosaur had scampered off into the bushes. Several adults raised their heads to watch, their mouths full of leaves.

Tony calmed himself and, with a strangled shout, tried to sit up. Everything hurt, right down to his bones. In the end, he managed to pull himself up enough to lean against the wall behind him, panting heavily.

He remembered...a raptor? Did he time travel? Tony clutched his head. No, he was in the Savage Land. Tony wished it didn’t say something about his life that a close encounters with dinosaurs were not at all uncommon.

But where had Steve gone? They’d had been together hadn’t they? They crashed the jet on their way to find a rare plant that might hold a cure for the toxin half the team had been dosed with. A haze had been cast over everything after that point, but Tony remembered getting hurt and clinging to Steve–

Tony hid his face in his hands with a groan.

He kissed Steve.

“No wonder he isn’t here. I’d be lucky if he ever looks me in the eye again.”

Something nudged Tony’s foot. He cautiously peeked through his fingers. The baby hadrosaur cocked i ts head at him.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just saying goodbye to any chance of holding on to a friendship with my best friend.”

It was the unspoken rule of their friendship, that as long as Tony never acted on his feelings, never told Steve how he felt, things would be normal between them no matter how painfully obvious Tony’s crush was. Tony had accepted this because he knew from the start that they’d never be anything other than friends. People like Steve didn’t date people like Tony. 

But now he’d gone and ruined it. 

Tony held out his hand for the hadrosaur to smell. “Now that I get the chance to take a proper look, you’re kind of cute – in a muppet-y way.” 

The hadrosaur crept a little closer to examine his hand, taking a few sniffs of it before giving it a big lick. Disgusted, Tony wiped his hand on his pants, but he couldn’t be mad. The hadrosaur continued to snuffle his hand and look at him with big shining eyes.

Tony didn’t really get the chance to appreciate dinosaurs, since so often when he encountered them they were attacking or otherwise causing havoc. But these ones were just eating leaves and living their lives.

Tony jumped. A loud honk called the hadrosaur back to its family and the group lumbered through the forest.

“Don’t get eaten!” Tony said, waving them off.

No sooner had the hadrosaurs cleared the area than Tony saw a familiar figure pushing through the bushes. Steve was in rough shape, his uniform more brown than red, white, and blue. An improvised bag was slung over his shoulder. 

He noticed Tony sitting at the entrance of the cave and stopped short.

“You’re awake,” Steve said.

Tony looked away, afraid if he looked at Steve too long he might find something he didn’t want to see there. It was stupid that a kiss could bring down their friendship around him, but Tony could already see how it would go, starting with Steve’s gentle, but firm rejection. The casual touches, little jokes, and silly games, gone, as the distance between them widened until they no longer spent time together. Eventually, it’d affect their teamwork and the Avengers would split up again. 

“How long had I been out?” Tony asked before he could spiral further. 

Steve clanked the bag down next to Tony. “A couple of days. Your fever finally broke this morning, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick trip to salvage some parts. I also tracked down the plant we came for, not that it’ll do much good while we’re stuck here.”

“You found the jet!?” Tony pulled open the bag and took out the parts.

“No, it hit the volcano. Nothing but a charred wreck now, but remember Hammer’s drill tank? It’s still out here and not in much worse condition than when we left it. I figured if anyone could do something with this junk, it’d be you.”

“It’d be nice not to be completely useless on this trip,” Tony grumbled, curling in on himself.

“Tony, you’ve been far from useless. If it weren’t for your quick thinking, we might never have had the time to get out of the jet before it crashed. And if you hadn’t distracted that raptor, I’d have been done for.”

A rueful smile crept over Tony’s face. Steve was like that, always lifting people up, encouraging them to be their best selves. 

“Glad I didn’t become a chew toy for nothing.” Tony pulled a screwdriver from his pocket. “Let me show you what I really can do.”

* * *

  
  


“Well, it’s still badly damaged,” Tony said, setting the repaired communicator down without looking at Steve. “But if we can get it somewhere high up, the signal will probably go through.”

Steve nodded, trying to keep the frown off his face. Tony had been avoiding looking at Steve ever since he returned with the plant and scavenged parts and Steve wasn’t sure why. “We aren’t far from the outer rim. Our best bet might be to ascend the nearest volcano.”

He crouched down for Tony to climb on his back.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked.

“Get on.”

“No, no, no. I don’t need you to haul me around, Cap.” Tony shook his head, gesturing wildly. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” There was no way Tony was in any shape to be walking around, let alone climbing a mountain. “It’s faster this way.”

Tony crossed his arms. “Not happening.”

Steve  sighed. Whatever was bothering Tony, he couldn’t let him risk himself like this. It looked like he’d have to take drastic measures.

“Your pride is going to have to survive this blow,” he said, scooping a spluttering Tony up. 

Tony grumbled unintelligibly, but allowed Steve to carry him.

Normally Steve felt he was pretty good at guessing what went on in that genius brain of Tony’s, but this time his behavior was odd. At first, he seemed upset about holding Steve back on this mission, which was ridiculous, but also something he was prone to do. Except Steve’s usual encouragement had little effect, in fact, more than anything else,  _ Steve  _ seemed to be the source of his discomfort. 

Steve took several deep gulps from his canteen and a memory floated up from the depths of his subconscious. When Tony’s fever had hit a high point and he didn’t have the strength to drink on his own, Steve helped him drink. Wasn’t that basically a kiss? Could Tony have remembered that?

It made sense. As close as he was with Tony, there were certain lines their friendship never crossed, kissing, no matter how practical, was one of them. Of course Tony was uncomfortable with being kissed by someone he didn’t care for that way. 

An insect buzzed by Steve’s ear and he swatted it away. It was too quiet. The chorus of animal sounds that populated the treetops was almost entirely absent.

“Something is following us,” Steve whispered without stopping.

There was a sharp intake of breath as Tony looked behind them. Steve picked up his pace, eating up the forest floor with long strides. As soon as he reached a relatively sheltered area, a fallen tree, Steve let Tony down.

“Hide.” 

Tony didn’t argue, immediately ducking under the tree with the repaired communicator clutched to his chest. Steve squared up and prepared to fight.

A weak breeze stirred the trees and somewhere off in the distance, Steve could hear running water. Sweat dripped down Steve’s back. Tension blanketed the humid air while the hunter and the hunted each waited for the other to make a move.

Steve blinked, and a hulking shape crashed in on him, pinning him to the ground with huge paws. Long canine teeth pressed up against his face as the feline took in his scent. Apparently it didn’t like what it smelled, because its growl rumbled through Steve.

“Zabu , stop!”

The sabertooth reluctantly slinked off of him and beside a young man with long blond hair and no shirt. Some sort of high-tech weapons were strapped to his wrists. The man stroked the sabertooth’s tawny fur with an easy smile.

Steve sat up, unsure what to make of this newcomer. 

Tony hobbled out from his hiding place. “Woah, who are you and why do you look like a surfer dude that took styling tips from Tarzan?”

“I am Ka-Zar, and I no take styling tips from no one. I live here with my brother. Savage Land home.”

“I’m not sure you need them, the look is working for you.” Tony turned to Steve and added, “He must have been the one to teach the Rock Tribe English.”

Ka-Zar smiled smugly at the comment. Steve was certain there was something off about him. Where had someone in the Savage Land learned English? And where did he get those weapons?

Steve crossed his arms. “Where is your brother?”

“Right here! Zabu my brother!” Ka-Zar laughed and playfully smacked the sabertooth’s back.

“I didn’t know there were any sabertooth tigers in the Savage –” Tony stumbled, falling right into Ka-Zar’s arms.

“Only Zabu. Others gone,” Ka-Zar steadied Tony with an arm around his waist. “You Iron Man, yes? And that Captain America?”

“You know us?” Steve asked through gritted his teeth.

Ka-Zar nodded. “We train with SHIELD. We learn of many heroes. You protect Savage Land while we with SHIELD. We help.”

With that he lifted Tony up on to Zabu’s back. Tony’s shocked expression quickly melted into a delighted grin. “Talk about a ride with style. We’re trying to get somewhere high up so we can call our friends.”

Ka-Zar started walking, with Zabu following, in the opposite direction Steve had been heading in.

“Where are you taking us?” Steve jogged to catch up, fists clenched.

Ka-Zar tilted his head. “Hill this way. You need place signal reach, yes?”

“We were actually headed for the volcano,” Steve growled.

Ka-Zar frowned and shook his head. “Volcano no good, dangerous, home to monsters. Hill much better, closer, safer. Only some things want eat us.”

“Yes! That’s perfect!” Tony crowed. “We’d have been monster food without you.”

“I could handle a few monsters,” Steve muttered under his breath.

Tony raised his eyes at Steve before turning to Ka-Zar. “So, you trained with SHIELD? How come you’re not with them?”

“SHIELD show many places, new ways to fight, give weapons, but Savage Land home.”

“Next time you visit New York you should drop by for a cup of coffee. You probably don’t get much coffee out here.” Tony winked at him.

Despite his reservations, Steve let Ka-Zar lead the way. However, he kept a close eye on him. Tony might be all buddy-buddy with him, but Steve wasn’t going to let his guard down.

* * *

Tony couldn’t help but spare a glance to look over the Savage Land. From here the lushness of the landscape was even more apparent. There wasn’t a spot not covered in plant life while pterosaurs soared overhead.

“Thanks. Ka-Zar. This is perfect. With a few adjustments and a bit of luck, we’ll be rescued in no time,” Tony said, taking Ka-Zar’s offered hand and sliding down from Zabu’s back.

Ka-Zar nodded to himself and said, “I keep safe. Watch for trouble.”

With a click of his tongue he called Zabu to his side and the two of them padded off into the jungle. Tony didn’t waste any time pulling out Hammer’s communicator and setting up his improvised antenna. He had finished the majority of the repairs back at the cave, but there were still calibrations to be made.

As soon as Tony was sure Ka-Zar was a good distance away, he asked Steve, “Have you been replaced by an evil clone?”

“No!” Steve looked like he’d taken a blow. “Why would you even think that?”

Tony felt a twinge of guilt as adjusted the antenna, but he couldn’t back down now. “You’ve been acting weird about Ka-Zar.”

Before Steve could respond, the communicator burst to life, broadcasting the usual Avenger’s message. Tony shot Steve a look to let him know this wasn’t finished.

“Access code: February-Echo-Zero-Zero-One. Is anyone there?”

Sam’s voice crackled across the line. “Tony? Is that you? Is Steve with you?”

“Yes! We’re –”

A roar echoed over his words. The earth trembled as a tyrannosaurus crashed through the trees. Tony rushed to stabilize the delicate antenna, but it collapsed, cutting off the conversation. Ka-Zar swung from a vine right alongside the tyrannosaur, landing a few hits on it by weaving in and out of range of its powerful jaws. Unable to keep up, Zabu trailed behind.

“Get us reconnected!” Steve shouted to Tony, running straight at the tyrannosaurus.

The tyrannosaurus suddenly swerved, changing its target from Ka-Zar to Steve. In the process, its tail pivoted in a wide arc and swept Zabu off his paws. Ka-Zar let loose a guttural yell and leaped on the tyrannosaur’s back. Meanwhile Steve wound up for a blow that sent the tyrannosaur reeling back into a tree, sandwiching Ka-Zar between them.

Ka-Zar tumbled to the ground. The tyrannosaur headbutted Steve, sending him sliding across the ground to land at Tony’s feet.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this to  _ you _ , but this might go better if you actually work with Ka-Zar instead of trying to show off,” Tony commented, desperately protecting the communicator and antenna from further damage.

Steve jumped to his feet. “It’d go better if he’d stay out of my way.”

Tony scraped a hand down his face. “Give the guy a chance. He seems to know how things work around here.”

“Of course you’d say that, you’re halfway in love with him!”

“What? That’s ridiculous! You  _ know _ that’s impossible!”

“Why not? He’s ‘a surfer dude that took styling tips from Tarzan,’ right?”

Tony snapped, “Because I’m already in love with you!”

“What?” Steve stared blankly at him.

The ground shook beneath Tony as he gaped in silent horror at what he just admitted. Just over Steve’s shoulder he could see Ka-Zar hop from the downed tyrannosaurus’ back. He was distantly amazed by the sight.

“–on Man? Are you still there?”

Sam’s voice startled him back to life. “Yeah. Sorry, technical difficulties.”

“I thought technical difficulties were for lesser mortals?” Sam joked.

“Laugh it up after you send a jet for us. We’re at approximately 76°48′S 117°42′W.”

“See you in a few hours. Falcon out.”

Steve had not stopped staring the whole time. At last he said, “Me too.”

Tony blinked. “What?”

“I’m in love with you, too.”

“Huh.” That was a novel idea. “Are you sure?”

Steve sat beside Tony and threaded his fingers through his. “Yes.”

Tony looked down at their joined hands in wonder. He might need some time to get used to this idea, longer than it took for a supersonic jet to get to Antarctica from New York. Maybe he should call Sam back and tell him to take his time.


End file.
